Leonard Garcia: “If I don’t win, I don’t want to be in the UFC.”

UFC featherweight Leonard Garcia has a reputation for turning in tremendous efforts that aren’t necessarily technical gems but highly entertaining nonetheless. However, Garcia’s style isn’t exactly conducive to having his hand raised either and has resulted in 3-6-1 record in his last ten tilts including losses in a quartet of consecutive clashes.

Garcia will attempt to avoid #5 this weekend when he mixes it up with Cody McKenzie at UFC 159. While it seems obvious the 33-year old will be fighting for his job come showtime, Garcia doesn’t want to be on the UFC roster if defeated regardless of how exciting his effort may be.

“I feel like every fight in the UFC is that way, but this one, for sure, is. I feel like it doesn’t matter what kind of performance I have. If I don’t win, I don’t want to be in the UFC,” admitted Garcia in a recent conversation with MMAFighting. “If you’re not winning, why do you want to be there?”

When asked to examine the source of his strife, Garcia explained he’s always enjoyed pleasing fans even if it meant sacrificing success. Now, with his UFC career in jeopardy, Garcia knows it’s time to show he can still be the “Bad Boy” without literally being bad.

“I feel like I get into these exchanges and these scraps. I take a shot to give a shot. And even though sometimes I feel like that’s exciting and it’s fun to watch, and it’s a good fight, I need to stray away from that and start showing my skills – not just showing the guy who can go out there and put on a show. I don’t feel like I’m going to lose any fans because of it, because even my skills sets are still entertaining,” said Garcia. “I still try to knock guys out in the gym. I still try to take you down as hard as I can. I still try to grapple really hard, and I feel like it’s still going to be entertaining. I just need to be more on-point.”

Fans can catch Garcia (15-10-1) and McKenzie (13-3) go at it on the Facebook portion of the preliminary card.